


1x04 "Hush"

by hanarmontana



Series: Armello: The Blood Of Sinners [4]
Category: Armello (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25420726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanarmontana/pseuds/hanarmontana
Summary: Jeremiah, Sylus and Barnaby happen upon a seemingly empty ship floating in the water and decide to check it out, with terrifying and tragic results.
Series: Armello: The Blood Of Sinners [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1334248
Kudos: 2





	1x04 "Hush"

There was a lack of wind surrounding the singular boat that they were heading towards, and that lack of wind is what spooked Jeremiah the most.

It wasn't that he hadn't been in somewhat sketchy, possibly life or death situations before, but this? This was like something out of a campfire story. The sort of tale they tell young pups to scare them on late fall nights. Yes, this was not the kind of thing Jeremiah was exactly looking forward to doing. And yet, here he was, sitting here in this tiny, rickety lifeboat, with an extremely dangerous otter chieftan, ready to board a ship that looked abandoned and surrounded by fog. Yeah. Jeremiah was _real_ pleased with life at this very moment. He sighed and pulled out the small dagger he kept hidden on his person, unsheathed it and looked it up and down, terrified he might actually have to use it. He looked around again, and once more, saw only the boat in front of him, their destination as it were, and the boat behind them, the safety they'd left behind. As the lifeboat came ever closer to the large ship, Sylus looked at Jeremiah and wriggled his whiskers.

"What?" Jeremiah asked in a hushed voice, though not sure why, as there was likely nobody around but the two of them.

"I want you to stay behind me, watch our backs, and don't attack unless someone attacks first. For all we know, this ship could be filled with the corpses of its crew, having been sacked by raiders or something, who might still be here waiting for another ship to come along and find it so they can take that one for all its worth as well. So you understand your instructions?"

"Aye aye, cap'n," Jeremiah said, saluting Sylus, who didn't appear to find anything humorous about it.

The lifeboat hit the side of the ship, and together the two of them quickly began climbing up. It proved to be somewhat difficult for Jeremiah, given his wings damage, but Sylus helped him up best he could. Once on the main deck, they noticed no lights coming from any interior cabins, and no sounds of anyone shuffling about below. The place was dead quiet, to say the least. Jeremiah did as he had been told, and watched behind them, dagger in his good wings grip, as they advanced towards what was, or had once been in this case, presumably the captains quarters. Sylus took a deep breath, and then threw the doors open, only to find there was nobody inside. He turned on the little oil lamp sitting on a small desk in the room, and noticed all the papers and what appeared to be a logbook sitting on the top of it all. Sylus quickly took a seat and started checking it all out.

"This'll show us how much they charted their progress, maybe we can find something about the ship in here," Sylus said, opening the cover and then pointing to an inscription inside, "The ship seems to be called The Thumper, so it's a rabbit clan boat."

"And what's that mean?" Jeremiah asked, cautiously peering over his shoulder and out the door to ensure they weren't being snuck up on.

"It means, bonewing, that unless the crew that's survived has gone mad with plague or rabies, they'll likely be friendly. Rabbit clan is the friendliest clan around, your pal Barnaby has proven that to us."

"Pardon me, oil slick, but it doesn't seem as if there's any crew _left_. In case you haven't noticed, we're _alone_ ," Jeremiah said.

"You're never really alone," Sylus said, licking his paw and turning the page, "Looks like they were heading somewhere with lots of cargo, doesn't say where though. Likely destination was left unwritten so as not to give any more information to whomever seems to have ransacked the place. They were smart enough to recognize that'd be a likely possibility."

Just then they heard the sound of coughing from somewhere close by and they glanced at one another. Sylus quickly stood up and pulled his sword, the two of them standing still as possible, nothing around them making another peep except the eerie low howl of the wind outside. After a few moments had passed, Sylus seemed contented that whoever had made the noise wasn't going to spring forth and attack them, but was likely instead someone in need of some assistance. He started to sheath his sword again when he saw the face of a lanky rat behind Jeremiah, his eyes glowing purple and white, his dagger raised high.

"Bonewing, look out!" Sylus shouted, and with that Jeremiah swung around and, not sure of what else to do, dropped his dagger on the ground and instead hoisted one of his many bags he had slung around his body up in front of him. The rats knife made contact with the bag, slitting it open, gold pieces spilling out onto the floor. Sylus quickly grabbed Jeremiah by the tail feathers and yanked him backwards, then raised his own sword up just as the rats sword came clashing down on its metal. Sylus then put his paw on the handle of Jeremiahs dropped dagger, kicked down on the tip of the handle and caught it in midair with his free paw before digging its blade into the rats gut. The rat dropped his sword, stumbled back and hit the wall, then slid down and collapsed on the floor. Sylus approached carefully, his sword to the rats throat.

"Who are you and what are you doing on this boat?" he asked.

"He sent us," the rat said, blood trickling down his jaw, "he wants them dead. The rot will come for us all soon enough."

"Who sent you? Are there more of you?" Sylus asked.

"Didn't want to do this, but the rot...it makes you, that's why he gave it to us," the rat whined, clutching at his gut, his robe slowly leaking with blood, "you...you have to stop him. Before he infects everyone. Before he brings about the end of times. He won't stop until the rot has consumed all his enemies, turning them all to his slaves. You have to stop him, promise me you'll stop him."

The rat reached out and grabbed Sylus's necklace, tugging him forward, their noses a mere inch apart.

"Stop who?" Sylus asked softly.

"Horace," the rat managed to eke out in a whispered voice, before his head dropped and his claws let Sylus go.

Sylus sighed, shook his head and shut the rats eyes, then stood back up and handed Jeremiah his dagger back.

"Um...thanks for saving my life," Jeremiah said, "That was very nice of you."

"You forget, I've employed you to carry out a very dangerous quest for me. Until that's completed, you're not going anywhere, and that includes the afterlife," Sylus said, finally resheathing his sword, "Now come, let's find the source of that cough."

The two stumbled out of the room and glanced around. There was nobody on board. Sylus reached back in and took the oil lantern from the desk, then whistled at Jeremiah and the two headed down the stairs into the lower decks of the ship. It was only a 3 deck ship, so they wouldn't have much to search. As Sylus pushed the 2nd deck door open with his paw, handing the lantern back to Jeremiah and putting his other paw on his sword handle just in case, they peered inside and realized this was the storeroom and living quarters. Beds were there, fully made, and nobody in them. Sylus sighed and continued further into the room, Jeremiah right behind him.

"Why do I have to hold the oil lantern?" Jeremiah asked.

"Because I've seen how you fight," Sylus said, "Trust me, you're much more a help with lighting the place up."

"You know, you've got some gall, first you ask me to come when I clearly don't want to, then you insult my lack of fighting skills. I'm getting quite sick of your attitude towards me, and-"

Sylus quickly grabbed Jeremiah from the nearby bed they had passed and pulled him out of the way of another rotted rat who had been laying on the top bunk in wait. As his dagger swung down, Sylus jammed his sword up, right through the rats jaw, and out the top of his skull. Jeremiah, sitting on the floor, holding the lantern tighter than before and shaking, looked up at Sylus who sheathed his sword once more.

"You were saying?" Sylus asked.

"I'll shut up," Jeremiah replied.

"That's twice we've been attacked, so these are well trained rats, rotted or not. They know what they're doing. Look here, this was clearly a sneak attack, and they were good at it considering the place doesn't look a bit out of order, aside from all the missing residents," Sylus said, "Keep that light steady, bonewing. You never know what'll be around to spring from the darkness next."

Just then, they heard the cough again, and Sylus looked down, feeling the floor raised a bit under a small rug. He kicked the rug away and beneath was a trapdoor. He motioned for Jeremiah to give him the lantern, and then he opened the door, heading down first. Jeremiah quickly followed, using both his wings, despite how much pain it caused him, only because he didn't want to be left alone up there. Once they hit the bottom, they realized it was darker than everywhere else on the ship, and Sylus raised the lantern so they could see better, only to uncover a horrible sight. Before them, all across the floor of this deck, were the bodies of rabbits. Rabbits in uniform, soldier rabbits. Each ones neck was cut open, or their chest had been thoroughly stabbed, all of them soaked in blood. This took Sylus's breath away, and for a moment, he had to stifle himself so as not to cry. Jeremiah took the lantern back as they headed deeper into the room.

"My god," Sylus muttered, "This is...a massacre. Unforgivable. Despicable."

"They're all dead," Jeremiah added, Sylus nodding in acknowledgement.

"I'm well aware, buddy. This was a calculated move. Whoever led these rats, and I'm assuming most didn't die considering we've only run across two who were still here, was an extremely skilled tactician and knew what they were doing. My god, look at this nightmare."

The cough again echoed closer than ever before, and Sylus and Jeremiah quickly jogged across the room, but couldn't find the source. Jeremiah looked down and saw a rabbit still alive, his eyes twitching, blood trickling from his nose. Jeremiah mentioned to Sylus one was still alive, and Sylus kneeled beside him, holding his paws in his own.

"Oi, my friend, what happened here?" Sylus asked.

"You gotsa 'elp our boss, 'e's still alive," the rabbit said, spitting out blood, "Over in t'e corner. 'E's the one wat's been coughin'."

"We can't just leave you here," Jeremiah said.

"I admire your kindness Jeremiah, but even he knows he's too far gone," Sylus said, and the rabbit nodded.

"Go, get 'im off this blasted death trap," the rabbit said, before lying back down to die in the quiet and the dark.

Sylus rose and, with Jeremiah, headed to where the rabbit had informed them their boss was.

"Sylus," Jeremiah said softly, "Please don't ever let me get rotted, or killed by someone who's been rotted. It looks particularly nasty."

"I'll do my best, at least til you're not under my employment. Then you're on your own, bonewing," Sylus said, smirking at Jeremiah, to make sure the crow knew he was kidding. That's when they heard the cough again, and together they rushed to the spot, finding a rabbit who looked like he was dressed like any other of the soldier rabbits down here. This caused some confusion between the two, who glanced suspiciously at one another until Sylus approached, taking the oil lantern from Jeremiah, and kneeling in front of the rabbit.

"You the leader of this boat?" Sylus asked, "How come you're not dressed better?"

"One of me men made me switch uniforms with 'im," the rabbit said, "That way 'e looked like the leader, and I a lowly soldier. They didn't bother killin' all t'e soldiers."

"Smart," Sylus said, "Can you tell me your name, friend? We're going to get you out of here."

"Aye," the rabbit said, holding out his paw, "The name's Hargrave, leader of the Rabbit Clan. Pleased to meet you."

This took them both by surprise. The leader of the clan never went anywhere on a simple goods transport ship such as this. Whatever it was they were heading to do, it had clearly been important enough to bring along the chieftan of the clan.

"Who did this?" Sylus asked.

"Rotted rats, never saw who led them though," Hargrave said, "But I guarantee they were ordered by Horace, Badger lord. Now, let's get off this goddamned ghost ship."

"Really eager to get away from all the corpses, eh?" Jeremiah asked and Sylus helped Hargrave up. Hargrave merely gave a small chuckle and touched his side, clearly having been stabbed lightly there.

"Naw," Hargrave said, "I'm used to the dead, lad, I'm a soldier meself. I'm eager to kill Horace."


End file.
